Opens up about life as national team manager: – You should never sit in such a job if you can not feel a little uncomfortable
For a number of years, Ståle Solbakken has been used to being on the field every single day.
In FC Copenhagen, the 53-year-old was the boss of all bosses and combined a position as both coach and sports director.
As the Norwegian national team manager, everyday life is far from turned upside down.
Since Solbakken took over the national team on December 7 last year, it has been played in matches.
– I was probably honest last time and said that I do not always thrive with it, says Ståle Solbakken about his new everyday life as Norwegian national team manager.
This means that the “pot” may be extra large, when the World Cup qualifier is to be decided.
For now, the decision awaits World Cup qualifiers where Ståle Solbakken will finally get to know the adrenaline he is so fond of.
It happens with a Norwegian national team in progress. A Norwegian national team that has not participated in a championship for over 20 years, but which is still so exciting that the expectations are there. More and more people have played for a team in a top five league, just as Solbakken has called for.
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– Have we become so good now that you have to endure that there is actually a little pressure on you to perform and take us to the championship?
– You should always have that feeling. You should never sit in such a way that you can not feel a little uncomfortable and feel that it is something that pushes a little, says Ståle Solbakken.
The wife has hidden away from the tactics board
Unpleasant is probably a word that describes the part of the national team job that Solbakken does not like in a good way.
– The national team job is very, very intense when it’s on. That’s fine. But then there are so many things that you are not in control of and that you have no control over. You have much less time to prepare and you have to make several clear priorities that you have not done before in a club day, says Solbakken.
In everyday club life, he could immediately take in things. Now he almost refuses to push the players too much on a daily basis.
This can lead to a little extra time at home in the kitchen.
– I have a tactical board at home at the dining table, or my wife puts it under the dining table then, but I take it often and often play around a bit. Then I move on it a bit, look a bit at what the opponent can bring and things, Solbakken says about everyday life.
He says he watches extremely much football. He makes sure to be updated and probably there are few Norwegian players anyone can arrest him on.
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– Of course I talk a lot with the players, and some more than others. Martin as captain, for example, I talk a lot with. But the most important thing is to be updated on all players and football in general, says Solbakken.
– Have you at any time regretted that you took on the national team job and should rather put that you continued in club football?
– No, I have not done that. But it’s probably about the fact that I was mentally clear on what I was going for, says Solbakken – and points out that life as national team manager has, after all, been about a number of other things than what he had set for himself.
– The first six months there was no focus on football. Then I was more of a politician who had to put myself in the Qatar and corona situation, says Solbakken.
Well, his hope is that he can concentrate to a much greater extent on what is actually going to happen on the field.
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Because there Solbakken in Norway knows has a team on the way up and forward. Erling Braut Haaland and Martin Ødegaard have made their mark in Football Europe for several years. Lately, players have like Mohamed Elyounoussin, Joshua King, Kristoffer Ajer and not least Mathias Normann distinguished themselves in the Premier League. In Italy, Stefan Strandberg and Morten Thorsby are the mainstays. In Spain, Alexander Sørloth is also at full speed into La Liga.
So could continue to listen.
– We must try to build on what we have done so far and develop the team further. Much of what has been done so far has been good. But then we must not be happy or satisfied. For this gang has the prerequisites for a further step, says Ståle Solbakken.
– How do you assess the chance that Norway is ready for the World Cup after these two matches?
– What I’m thinking about now is Latvia. If we do the job there, then we can talk about the World Cup. Then the final is in Rotterdam, says Ståle Solbakken.
He is aware that many take it for granted that Norway will beat Latvia next Saturday and already expect a group final next week in the Netherlands.
Even Solbakken feels confident that the players will not fall into the trap and take too lightly in Latvia.
– The biggest motivating factor you will find in floodlights, dew in the grass and a full Ullevaal. It can not get better than that, says Solbakken about the framework that awaits Norway at the national arena on Saturday night.